Warning: Do Not Eat This Fish – One of the World’s Most Deadly Fish in Croatia’s Adriatic

The Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split have warned those fishing in Croatia to be careful after a fishermen caught a highly poisonous silver-cheeked toadfish near Dubrovnik today…

The silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus), also known locally as the ‘Dalmatinski fugu’, is a recent migrant into the eastern Mediterranean Sea after coming through the Suez Canal. Its toxin is 1250 times more potent than cyanide and there is enough in one grown fish to kill 30 adult humans.

The silver-cheeked toadfish is very similar to the oceanic pufferfish but more elongated and with a symmetrical caudal (tail) fin. Its back is grey or brown with darker spots and it has a white belly. A characteristic silver band runs along the sides of the fish. Until now the deadly fish has been seen in Croatia only in the southern part of the Adriatic coast.

So if you are out this summer on the Adriatic coast be careful if you come across this fish and whatever you do do not eat it.